Light control structure



Noy. 7, 1967 A. B. MENZER 3,351,513

LIGHT CONTROL STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 7, 1963 If", H 2

3 22 2/ VIIII/I/l/II/I/l/I/I/I/I/I/l/I/I/l/I/A INVENTOR.

ALFRED a. ME'NZER United States Patent 3,351,513 LIGHT CONTROL STRUCTUREAlfred B. Menzer, Joliet, Ill., assignor to Kemlite Corporation, Joliet,11]., a corporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 7, 1963, Ser. No. 314,383 9Claims. (Cl. 161-6) This invention relates to a structure for improvedlight control and for presenting a decorative protected design. Moreparticularly the invention relates to a special panel which may displaya decorative design on its outside and which will glow on its inside,which panel is employed in an awning or door or in other structures.

Customarily awnings are made of cloth or metal, usually with awaterproofing or protective coating on their exterior surfaces. The Woodor cloth is opaque in nature and the interior of the awning is inclinedto be dark. If it is desired to have a decoration on the exterior thisis customarily painted on the surface of the cloth or metal which is toform the exterior panel. But since the design is exposed to the weatherit soon becomes indistinct and gives a Worn appearance.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved panel having alight controlling structure which carries a decorative design apparentfrom the outside and protected from Weathering influences and which atthe same time uniformly restricts the transmission of light through thepanel. Another object is to provide such a panel wherein the decorativedesign is below the outside surface of the panel yet clearly distinctwhen viewed from the outside and which has a uniform layer of pigmentembedded therein forming a background for such design and which servesto restrict light transmission through the panel while presenting aglowing effect on the interior of the panel. A further object is toprovide such a panel which is strong and tough so as to resist breakage.

The foregoing objects are satisfied by my improved structure oneembodiment of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the improved awning structure; FIG. 2 isan enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view taken along line 2-2 ofFIG. 1; and FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view takenalong lines 33 of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the improved panel A is mounted over a doorway withits one edge secured to the building and with the side brackets Csupporting the panel A in an inclined position. In this embodiment thepanel A has printed areas 12 which form a design which is distinctlyseen from the outside. Light passes freely to the printed areas 12 andis reflected so as to present a clear design to the viewer, but lightrays are uniformly restricted in their passage through the panel and onthe interior present a pleasant glow when viewed from the inner or underside of the awning. These functions will be more fully understood afterthe following more detailed description of the construction of panel A.

As more clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, panel A is formed of threeprincipal laminations. The outer sheet and the inner sheet 21 form apair of fiberglass mats, and the center sheet 22 is a fibrous sheetbearing a uniformly distributed pigment. A design may be printed on theouter side of sheet 22, and in the illustrated embodiment this takes theform of the printed areas 12. In FIGS. 2 and 3 this design is seen as adiscontinuous layer.

The printed sheet 22 and the fiberglass sheets 20 and 21 are assembledwith the sheet 22 in the center and with the printing 12 next to theoutside sheet 20, and this assembly is dipped in a bath of thermosettingresin, so that each of the sheets, including the center sheet 22 isimpregnated with the resin. The assembly of sheets so im- 3,351,513Patented Nov. 7, 1967 pregnated then may be passed between rollers tosqueeze out air and provide a uniform thickness after which thestructure is cured by mild heat to set the resin. This provides aunitary panel structure which may be mounted as shown in FIG. 1 with itsedge 10 next to a building and with the bracket C at each side forsupporting the panel in its inclined position.

In manufacture the resin impregnated sheets may be placed between sheetsof regenerated cellulose to protect the rollers from contact with theresin, and after curing the regenerated cellulose sheets are strippedfrom the panel. Instead of regenerated cellulose sheets I may use sheetsof fluorinated hydrocarbon or cellulose acetate.

The resin which is used in this operation may be any resin, butpreferably a thermosetting resin, which is capable of being cured orset, including such resins as polyester resins, acrylic resins, acrylicmodified polyester resins, and epoxy resins.

The outer and inner sheets 20 and 21 are preferably of glass fiber mat,but may also be cellulose or synthetic fibers such as nylon or rayon, orboth fibrous material. In this fibrous sheet or mat the fibers may be inrandom arrangement or may be Woven in the form of cloth. I prefer thatthe resin be selected so as to have substantially the same lightrefractive qualities as the fibers in each of the sheets 20, 21 and 22,so that the resulting resin impregnated sheets will when fabricated betranslucent with the individual fibers disappearing from view.

The character of the sheet 22 is important to the invention and shouldbe carefully selected. This is a fibrous sheet and preferably isconstituted of cellulose fibers in mat or woven condition asin paper orcloth. The paper, cloth or such fibrous structure should contain pigmentwhich, when later deposited in the panel structure as a layer, willrestrict the passage of light to the required degree. The pigment shouldbe uniformly distributed within the body of the paper or the like. Thepigment particles, such as titanium dioxide, may be of a size within therange of 0.25 to 0.6 micron and preferably Within the range of 0.3 to0.4 micron. The pigment may be of any color. Preferably the pigment isof a color which as a background will contrast with the color of the inkused in the design layer. For example, the pigment of sheet 22 may bewhite or of light color when the ink of the design is black or of a darkcolor.

The art of making paper which contains pigment is well developed, and itis only necessary to select a paper or other fibrous sheet whichcontains the required density of pigment for use in the presentinvention. This selection may be made by taking a number of samples ofpaper having varying degrees of pigment density, impregnating the paperwith the resin to be used in practicing the invention, and then testingby passing a beam of light through each of the sample sheets to a lightmeter, comparing the amount of light which reaches the meter througheach of the samples with the amount of light which reaches the meterwhen no sample sheets are between the light source and the meter. Ofcourse the same distances between light source and the meter must bemaintained and the light source must be constant to make themeasurements meaningful.

By this or any other suitable method we may select the paper or the likewhich has contained in it the required amount of pigment. For thepurposes of this invention the sheet to be used should pass from 10% to55% and preferably from 10% to 20% of the light which is directedagainst it. When the resin has substantially the same light refractivecharacteristics as the fibers of the sheet being selected the fibers ofthe sheet become translucent and pass the light without substantialrestriction so that the test properly measures the ability of thepigment layer to restrict or transmit light.

When the pigment bearing paper has been selected as above explained, itmay be printed upon with ink or may be painted to form the design. Asillustrated, the design may take the form of simulated shingles, or itmay take the form of any other kind of printing or design. The designmay be in black and white or in color as may be desired. The ink whichis used may contain pigment or dyes as may be desired. Suitable inkswhich may be used are vinyl inks, acrylic inks or lacquer inks. It ispreferred, particularly when pigment bearing inks are used, that thecoating of ink be sufficiently thick that the pigment of the ink,together with the pigment contained in the center sheet 22, does notrestrict the transmission of all light, but this condition also may beutilized at localized areas in certain designs. Preferably, the pigmentof the printed areas should be of density such that some light, such as2% or 3%, will pass through the printed areas of the panel.

When the center sheet has been selected for the amount of pigmentrequired as above explained and when the resin is such that it hassubstantially the same light refractive qualities as the fibers of thesheets I obtain a particularly advantageous panel.

With this construction the light rays from the sun or sky pass throughthe outer layer 20 of the awning panel and enter the sheet 22 where thefibers are translucent and offer substantially no restriction but wherethe pigment particles form a substantial restriction to the transmissionof light. In passing through this layer of pigment particles the lightis reflected between the particles so that from the interior side of thepanel the layer appears to glow. Such glow appears clearly on the insideof the panel because the fibers of the inside layer 21 havesubstantially disappeared from view leaving the layer of pigmentparticles to glow independently of interference by the cellulose fibers.

With an awning so constructed and having a glow apparent from theinterior side of the awning it is clear that the impression of darknesswhich one usually gets when beneath an awning, is gone, and in its placeis the pleasant glow of mild diffused light.

The specially selected center sheet not only serves to uniformlyrestrict the passage of light rays through the panel, but also serves asa background to the design as seen from the outside. The light from theoutside when it passes through the outer layer 20 also reflects bothfrom the pigment in sheet 22 and from the printed portions on theoutside of sheet 22, thus to present to the viewer the design against abackground. In one sense the background becomes a part of the overalldesign picture.

With the use of the pigment layer of the center sheet possible to use adiscontinuous design such as the pattern illustrated while stillavoiding the passage of direct rays of the sun through the unprintedareas of the design which is an unwanted effect.

Referring again to FIG. 1 of the drawing, B designates a door whichcontains the panels 30. The lowermost or bottom panel 31, which may alsobe called the kick plate, is constructed in a manner similar to panel Aof the awning above door B. Like panel A, panel 31 is formed withfiberglass sheets having between them a paper sheet, the paper sheetcontaining pigment particles uniformly distributed within its fibers.The paper sheet is so selected that when impregnated with the resin itwill pass only from 10% to 55%, and preferably from 10% to 55%, of thelight directed against it. On the front side of the paper is a printeddesign which, as illustrated, contains horizontal striped printed areas32. The fiberglass sheets and the intermediate paper sheet areimpregnated with a resin, such as polyester resin, which hassubstantially the same light refractive characteristics as the fibers ofeach of said sheets. When the resin is cured the sheets are all boundtogether in a unitary structure which is translucent except for thepigment of the paper.

This construction provides a strong structure which resists foot blows,is easily cleaned, and has its decorative design protected from damage.At the same time, some of the light passes through the panel andpresents a pleasant glow on the interior of the door.

While this invention has been illustrated and described with respect tospecific structures, those skilled in this art will appreciate that manychanges may be made, and specific embodiments of the invention may takemany forms, all within the spirit of the invention.

Iclaim:

1. A panel comprising a pair of fiberglass sheets, and a cellulose fibercenter sheet between said fiberglass sheets, said center sheet havingpigment particles distributed uniformly therein and having on one sidethereof an ink layer in discontinuous distribution on the outer surfaceof the sheet to form a decorative design, each of said sheets beingimpregnated with a thermosetting resin and being bound by said resininto a unitary structure, said resin having substantially the same lightrefractive properties as the fibers of each of said sheets, whereby saidpanel Will pass in a diffused manner some but not all of the lightdirected against it from the outside and produce a glow from the insideof the panel wtih said design being distinctly visible from the outsideof the panel.

2. A panel as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pigment particlescontained in said center sheet have a density such as to passtherethrough from 10% to 55% of light directed against them.

3. A panel as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pigment particlescontained in said center sheet have a density such as to passtherethrough from 10% to 20% of light directed against them.

4. A light controlling structure comprising a pair of fiberglass sheets,and a cellulose fiber center sheet between said fiberglass sheets, saidcenter sheet having pigment particles distributed uniformly therein andhaving on the outside thereof a pigmented ink forming a decorativedesign, each of said sheets being impregnated with a polyester resin andbeing bound by said resin into a unitary structure, said pigmentparticles contained in said center sheet having a density such as topass only 10% to 55% of light directed against them.

5. A light controlling structure comprising a pair of fiber sheets, anda fibrous center sheet between said sheets of said pair, said centersheet having pigment particles contained therein, a printed decorativedesign between said center sheet and the outside sheet of said pair ofsheets, each of said sheets being impregnated with a thermosetting resinand being bound by said resin into a unitary structure, said resinhaving substantially the same light refractive properties as the fibersof each of said sheets, said pigment particles contained in said centersheet having a density such as to pass from 10% to 55% of the lightdirected against them.

6. A structure as set forth in claim 5 wherein said pigment particlesare from 0.25 to 0.6 microns in size and of a density as to pass from10% to 20% of light directed against them.

7. A decorative light controlling panel comprising a pair of fiberglasssheets, and a cellulose fiber center sheet between said fiberglasssheets, said center sheet containing pigment particles in a density suchas to pass from 10% to 55% of light directed against them, a printeddecorative design on the side of said center sheet which is adjacent theouter fiberglass sheet of said pair, each of said sheets beingimpregnated with a thermosetting resin and being bound by said resininto a unitary structure, said resin having light refractivecharacteristics which are substantially the same as the fibers of saidsheets.

8. A decorative light controlling panel comprising a pair of fiberglasssheets, and a paper center sheet between said fiberglass sheets, saidpaper sheet containing pigment particles uniformly distributedthroughout its fibers in a density such as to pass from 10% to 55% oflight directed against them, a printed decorative design on one side ofsaid center sheet, each of said sheets being impregnated with apolyester resin and being bound by said resin into a unitary structure,said resin having light refractive characteristics which aresubstantially the same as the fibers of said sheets.

9. A light controlling structure comprising a pair of fiberglass sheets,and a paper center sheet between said fiberglass sheets, said papersheet containing pigment particles uniformly distributed throughout itsfiber structure and in a density such as to pass from 10% to 55% oflight directed against them, each of said sheets being impregnated witha thermosetting resin and being bound by said References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 3,075,429 l/1963 Deddo 161-6 X JACOB H. STEINBERG,Primary Examiner.

0 ALEXANDER WYMAN, Examiner.

1. A PANEL COMPRISING A PAIR OF FIBERGLASS SHEETS, AND A CELLULOSE FIBERCENTER SHEET BETWEEN SAID FIBERGLASS SHEETS, SAID CENTER SHEET HAVING APIGMENT PARTICLES DISTRIBUTED UNIFORMLY THEREIN AND HAVING ON ONE SIDETHEREOF AN INK LAYER IN DISCONTINUOUS DISTRIBUTION ON THE OUTER SURFACEOF THE SHEET TO FORM ADECORATIVE DESIGN, EACH OF SAID SHEETS BEINGIMPREGNATED WITH A THERMOSETTING RESIN AND BEING BOUND BY SAID RESININTO A UNITARY STRUCTURE, SAID RESIN HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME LIGHTREFRACTIVE PROPERTIES AS THE FIBERS OF EACH OF SAID SHEETS, WHEREBY SAIDPANEL WILL PASS IN A DIFFUSED MANNER SOME BUT NOT ALL OF THE LIGHTDIRECTED AGAINST IT FROM THE OUTSIDE AND PRODUCE A GLOW FROM THE INSIDEOF THE PANEL WITH SAID DESIGN BEING DISTINCTLY VISIBLE FROM THE OUTSIDEOF THE PANEL.